Michael Fassbender
Michael Fassbender | |
|---|---|
 Fassbender at the 2012 WonderCon at Anaheim, California | |
| Born | 2 April 1977 |
| Nationality | German and Irish |
| Alma mater | Drama Centre London |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1994–present |
Michael Fassbender (born 2 April 1977) is a German-Irish actor. He is best known for his roles as Lieutenant Archie Hicox in the film Inglourious Basterds (2009), Magneto in the superhero film X-Men: First Class (2011), and the android David in the science fiction film Prometheus (2012). In 2014 Fassbender will reprise his role as Magneto in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Fassbender will also star in Assassin's Creed in 2015.
His other credits include the fantasy action film 300 (2007); the drama film Fish Tank (2009); the romantic drama film Jane Eyre (2011); the historical film A Dangerous Method (2011); the biographical film Hunger (2008) and the drama film Shame (2011), both directed by Steve McQueen. For his role in Shame, he won the Volpi Cup best actor award at the 68th Venice International Film Festival held in August 2011, and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA.
Early life and education
Fassbender was born in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. His mother, Adele, is from Larne, County Antrim, in Northern Ireland, and his father, Josef Fassbender, is German.[1][2] According to Fassbender's "family lore", his mother is the great-great-niece of Michael Collins, an Irish leader during the War of Independence.[1][3] When he was two years old, his parents moved to Killarney, County Kerry, in the Republic of Ireland, where they ran the West End House, a restaurant where his father worked as a chef.[1][2] Fassbender was brought up as a Roman Catholic and served as an altar boy.[4]
He attended Fossa National School, St. Brendan's College (The Sem) and the Drama Centre London.[5]
Career
Early work
Fassbender first played the part of Burton "Pat" Christenson in Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's award-winning television miniseries Band of Brothers.[6] He played the character of Azazeal in both series of Hex on Sky One and he also starred as the main character in the music video for the song "Blind Pilots", by the British band The Cooper Temple Clause. In the video, he plays the part of a man on a stag night with his friends, only to slowly transform into a goat due to wearing a cowbell necklace.[6]
Fassbender played the part of Jonathan Harker in a ten-part radio serialization of Dracula produced by BBC Northern Ireland and broadcast in the Book at Bedtime series between 24 November and 5 December 2003. He was also seen in early 2004 in a Guinness television commercial, The Quarrel, playing a man who swims across the ocean from Ireland to apologize personally to his brother in New York.[7] During the 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Fassbender played Michael Collins in Allegiance, a play by Mary Kenny based on the meeting between Winston Churchill and Collins.[8] In addition, he produced, directed and starred in the stage version of Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs,[6] along with his production company.
He appeared in Angel (UK title: The Real Life of Angel Deverell), about the rise and fall of an eccentric young British writer (played by Romola Garai) in the early 20th century. Fassbender plays her love interest and average painter Esmé.[6] The drama – the first English-language effort by French director François Ozon and based on the novel by Elizabeth Taylor – premiered on 17 February 2007 at the Berlin International Film Festival and on 14 March 2007 in Paris. He then made a brief appearance in Wedding Belles as Barney, speaking with a Scottish accent.
Mainstream success
In 2006, Fassbender played the role of Stelios, a young Spartan warrior, in 300, a fantasy action film directed by Zack Snyder. The film was a commercial success.[9] In preparation for his role as Provisional Irish Republican Army prisoner Bobby Sands in Steve McQueen's 2008 film Hunger, Fassbender underwent a crash diet that restricted him to 600 calories a day. He received the British Independent Film Award for his performance.[10]
One year after his success at the Cannes Film Festival with Hunger, he appeared in two films. The first was Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, in which he played the British officer Lieutenant Archie Hicox. The other film was Fish Tank directed by Andrea Arnold. Both films were critically acclaimed and Fassbender's work in them also well received. In 2010, Fassbender appeared as Burke in Jonah Hex, a Western film.[11] In an interview at San Diego Comic-Con International, a comic book convention, Fassbender commented of the role: "I kind of developed this character and really pushed it – I’ll see how far I pushed it ... I had this idea about the character, he’s kind of psychotic, he gets his kicks in perverted ways. I didn’t want to make it very obvious or like something you’ve seen before".[12] Hex received predominately negative reviews.[13] Responding to criticism of Jonah Hex in 2011, Fassbender commented: "Pretty awful, was it? I haven't seen it myself."[14]
He also portrayed Quintus Dias in Neil Marshall's war-thriller-drama film Centurion.[15] and was cast as 'Richard Wirth' in the Joel Schumacher film Blood Creek alongside Dominic Purcell. The story centers on a West Virginia man who comes to terms with his moral qualms and helps his brother wipe out a family that had been protecting a Nazi occultist and who had kept his brother captive for him to feed off for years. Fassbender played Edward Rochester in the 2011 film Jane Eyre, featuring Mia Wasikowska in the title role, with Cary Fukunaga directing.[16]
Fassbender portrayed Magneto in the superhero blockbuster X-Men: First Class, the prequel to X-Men. Set in 1962, it focuses on the friendship between Charles Xavier (played by James McAvoy) and Magneto and the origin of their groups, the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants. The film was released on 3 June 2011 to general acclaim and financial success and promoted Fassbender to being more of a popular movie star.
In 2011, Fassbender starred in A Dangerous Method by director David Cronenberg, playing Swiss psychiatrist and psychologist Carl Jung. The film premiered at the 2011 Venice Film Festival.[17] He also starred in Shame, as a man in his thirties struggling with his sexual addiction. Shame reunited him with director Steve McQueen and premiered at the 2011 Venice Film Festival, where Fassbender won a Volpi Cup best actor award for his portrayal of Brandon.[18] Fassbender was a serious contender for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, but he was not nominated, and according to various sources his full-frontal nudity and depiction of sexual encounters inspired voters "to fantasize, and not actually vote."[19][20] Fassbender achieved critical acclaim for his performance in Shame and received nominations for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama and a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. In 2012, he appeared in Haywire, an action-thriller directed by Steven Soderbergh,[11] and in the science fiction film Prometheus.
Future projects
Due to a schedule conflict, Fassbender had to pull out of negotiations to work with Oscar-winning director, Danny Boyle, in his new film, Trance.[21] Fassbender signed to star in actor Brendan Gleeson's directorial debut of At Swim-Two-Birds,[22] a film adaptation of Irish author Flann O'Brien's novel. He will also team up for a third time with McQueen to co-star as slave owner Edwin Epps[23] with Chiwetel Ejiofor, portraying Solomon Northup, in 12 Years a Slave (in post-production, 24 August 2012)[24] Together with screenwriter Ronan Bennett, Fassbender has formed a production company, Finn McCool Films. Fassbender and Bennett are currently developing a film about the Irish mythological hero Cú Chulainn.[25] In February 2012, Fassbender signed on to play a title role as a lawyer in The Counselor, a film directed by Ridley Scott and based on the Cormac McCarthy script.[26] Filming is currently in progress as of September 2012.[27] Fassbender will reprise the role of Magneto in the sequel to X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, which will be released on 23 May 2014.[28]
Fassbender will play a large part in and co-produce the upcoming film adaptation of the Assassin's Creed video game series.[29] He has completed his role as the leader of an eccentric rock band in the upcoming comedy film Frank, set to be released sometime in 2014.[27] Citing scheduling conflicts, Fassbender has withdrawn from starring in Jane Got a Gun, a western, starring Natalie Portman, to be produced by Handsomecharlie Films and 1821 Pictures.[30] It has been announced earlier this year that Michael will take on a most storied Shakespearean role, that of Macbeth, which will be directed by Justin Kurzel, and allow him to team up with Academy Award winner, Marion Cotillard, as Lady MacBeth, with filming to begin in January 2014.[31]
Personal life
Shifting between British films and American films, Fassbender resides in London, UK where he has lived for the last 15 years, while making career-related visits to Los Angeles, California.
He speaks German, though he stated that he needed to brush up a bit on his spoken German because it was a bit rusty, before filming Inglourious Basterds.[32][33] He has also expressed interest in performing in a German-language film or theater production one day.[34] Fassbender is a Formula 1 fan and has attended several races, whilst on Top Gear he stated that he was a Michael Schumacher fan and he met him at the British Grand Prix.[35]
Fassbender dated his X-Men: First Class co-star Zoë Kravitz.[36] In 2012, Fassbender also dated his Shame co-star, Nicole Beharie.[37]
Filmography
Films
Television
Fassbender was at the Top Gear studios in Surrey, England, on 8 February 2012 to film Star in a Reasonably Priced Car, where celebs try to set a fastest lap time of the Top Gear test track in a low-spec family hatchback. The lap and his interview with Jeremy Clarkson was aired on BBC2 on 19 February 2012.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Band of Brothers | Burton 'Pat' Christenson | Miniseries |
| Hearts and Bones | Hermann | 3 episodes | |
| 2002 | NCS Manhunt | Jack Silver | |
| Holby City | Christian Connolly | 1 episode | |
| 2003 | Carla | Rob | |
| 2004 | A Bear Named Winnie | Lt. Harry Colebourn | |
| Gunpowder, Treason & Plot | Guy Fawkes | ||
| Julian Fellowes Investigates: A Most Mysterious Murder | Charles Bravo | ||
| Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking | Charles Allen | ||
| 2004–2005 | Hex | Azazeal | 12 episodes |
| 2005 | Murphy's Law | Caz Miller | 5 episodes |
| Our Hidden Lives | German POW | ||
| William and Mary | Lukasz | 1 episode | |
| 2006 | Poirot: After the Funeral | George Abernethie | 1 episode |
| Trial & Retribution: Sins of the Father | Douglas Nesbitt | ||
| 2007 | Wedding Belles | Barney | |
| 2008 | The Devil's Whore | Thomas Rainsborough | Miniseries Nominated—IFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Television |
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Fable III | Logan | Voice |
Theatre
| Year | Production | Playwright | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Fairytales Fairytales 123 | Donie Courtney | Cinderella's ugly sister | Stage debut[43] |
| 1995 | Reservoir Dogs | based on script by Quentin Tarantino | Mr. Pink | Also producer and director[43] |
| 1999 | Three Sisters | Anton Chekhov | Alexei Petrovich Fedotik | Performances: Oxford Stage Company |
| 2006 | Allegiance | Mary Kenny | Michael Collins | Performances: Edinburgh Festival Fringe[44] |
See also
References
- ^ a b c Garratt, Sheryl (18 October 2008). "Michael Fassbender on Playing Bobby Sands in Hunger". The Daily Telegraph.
- ^ a b "Blood, Sweat, Tears". The Irish Times. 5 April 2008. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
- ^ Mottram, James (9 August 2009). "Interview: Michael Fassbender – Lean and Mean". The Scotsman. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
- ^ "Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender for W". Tom & Lorenzo. 16 March 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
- ^ "Michael Fassbender Visits the Sem" St. Brendan's College, Killarney. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
- ^ a b c d "Michael Fassbender- Biography". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
- ^ "Michael Fassbender. Guinness". youtube. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
- ^ O'Doherty, Cahir (16 February 2011). "Michael Fassbender Is Officially a Hollywood Leading Man". IrishCentral. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
- ^ "All-Time USA Box office". IMDb. 7 March 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
- ^ "2008 Winners at British Independent Film Awards". Bifa.org.uk. 16 June 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
- ^ a b "Knockout has begun filming in Dublin | Life of a Married Man". Alesrybarik.com. 16 February 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
- ^ "In 2009". Screen Crave. 19 August 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2009.
- ^ "Jonah Hex Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
- ^ "Michael Fassbender, future superstar". Salon. 8 March 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
- ^ "Get Ready To Jump in New 'Centurion' Clip". Bloody-disgusting.com. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
- ^ Bartyzel, Monika (9 February 2010). "Casting Bites: From Weisz's 'Dream' to Wasikowska's 'Eyre' – The Moviefone Blog". Cinematical.com. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
- ^ Maytum, Matt, "Venice 2011: Michael Fassbender Wins Best Actor for Shame". TotalFilm.com. 11 September 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
- ^ Nikkhah, Roya (10 September 2011). "Michael Fassbender Wins Best actor at Venice for Sex-Addict role". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
- ^ "Oscars 2012: Did Michael Fassbender's Big Part Cost Him a Nom?". Los Angeles Times. 25 January 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
- ^ "Michael Fassbender's Penis Caused Oscar Snub?". The Huffington Post. 26 January 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
- ^ Abrams, Rachel; Kroll, Justin (6 May 2011). "Fassbender in talks for Danny Boyle's 'Trance'". Variety. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
- ^ Wiseman, Andreas, (Subscription required) "Michael Fassbender, Luxembourg Fund Join Gleeson's At-Swim-Two-Birds", screendaily.com, 9 July 2011.
- ^ "Edwin Epps (Character)". imdb. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
- ^ "12 Years a Slave (2013)". imdb. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
- ^ Dawtrey, Adam (17 February 2012). "Michael Fassbender preps Cuchulain project". Variety. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
- ^ Fleming, Mike. "TOLDJA! Michael Fassbender Commits To Ridley Scott-Directed 'The Counselor'". Deadline.com. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
- ^ a b Sneider, Jeff (4 September 2012). "Fassbender, Gleeson set for 'Frank'". Variety. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
- ^ Konow, David (5 August 2012). "X-Men: Day of Future Past gets detailed". tgdaily.com. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
- ^ Wigler, Josh (9 July 2012). "Michael Fassbender To Star In 'Assassin's Creed'". mtv. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
- ^ Kit, Borys (11 March 2013). "Michael Fassbender will star in western Jane Got A Gun and as an enigmatic musician in Frank". Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Keslassy, Elsa. "Marion Cotillard Set to Topline 'MacBeth' Opposite Michael Fassbender". Retrieved 21 August 2013.
- ^ Cheney, Alexandra (2 June 2011). "Michael Fassbender, Supervillain with a Sensitive Side". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ "Irish Actor Michael Fassbender Brushes Up on His German for 'Inglourious Basterds'". Irishcentral.com. 21 August 2009. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
- ^ "A Michael Fassbender Fan Blog: June 2010". Fassinatingfassbender.com. 4 June 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
- ^ "Speedy star Michael Fassbender Shames The Stig on Top Gear". The Sun. 20 February 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
- ^ "X-Men Costars Zoe Kravitz, Michael Fassbender Take Relationship Public". U.S Magazine. 1 June 2011. Retrieved 6 October 6, 2012.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Michael Fassbender Opens Up About Girlfriend Nicole Beharie". U.S Magazine. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
- ^ "2011 IGN Award for Best Ensemble Cast". IGN. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
- ^ "Nominations Announced for the 'People's Choice Awards 2012'". TVbytheNumbers.Zap2it.com. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
- ^ "Genie Awards 2012: the nominations". Hour.ca. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
- ^ "AACTA International Awards Results". atthecinema.net. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
- ^ DFCS. "Denver Film Critics Society 2012 Award Nominations". Denverfilmcritics.org. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
- ^ a b Stars and Stories. "Jane Eyre: Michael Fassbender Interview". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
- ^ Hallett, Victor (13 August 2006). "Allegiance". OnStageScotland.co.uk. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
External links
- Michael Fassbender at IMDb
- Michael Fassbender Online
- His name Michael Fassbender
- The Actors Compendium
- Fassinating Fassbender
- Literature on Michael Fassbender
Template:Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor 2001-2020
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- Use dmy dates from November 2012
- 1977 births
- Alumni of the Drama Centre London
- German actors
- Irish film actors
- Irish male actors
- Irish people of German descent
- Irish stage actors
- Irish television actors
- Living people
- Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
- People educated at St. Brendan's College, Killarney
- People from County Kerry
- Volpi Cup winners